Ignatieff On B.C. HST

A really good substantive news item with Ignatieff, on a host of topics. Ignatieff was asked about the HST, during his British Columbia tour, and his comments were refined, but the message was clear:

“We’ve always believed that tax harmonization is a good thing. But the way you do it is absolutely crucial. And the way it was done here has given every politician pause for reflection. The issue is not the tax, in my view. It had to do with democratic accountability and whether trust was broken. That’s an issue for the provincial Liberals, it’s not an issue for me. We’ve been clear on HST all along. But you have to do it right. If you lose the consent of the people on this, that’s a problem for Premier Campbell.”

Dressed in jeans and a casual shirt, Ignatieff spoke without notes or a lectern in front of a packed room in the West Vancouver Community Centre.

Ignatieff is clearly speaking to the fact that Campbell ran an election campaign, without any mention of the HST, only to announce it mere weeks after he won. That he brings the argument down to a question of broken "trust" is an interesting characterization, one I’m sure Campbell doesn’t welcome. Not a particularly political answer, but a fairly honest one.